BELAGAVI: The Camp police station in the heart of Belagavi city had to be abruptly sealed and all station personnel including the station's police inspector and constables were put in quarantine after a burglar tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday.
The burglar was in the custody of Camp police for a few days before he was shifted to Hindalga Central Prison, Belagavi on Monday. A habitual offender, the accused was caught by the locals at Vijaya Nagar, Belagavi, when he made a vain bid to loot a jewellery store on June 27.
The locals had beaten him up badly before the Camp police personnel rounded him up and took him into custody at the station the same day. Several top police officials of Belagavi including several personnel and the circle inspector of Camp held a press conference at the same station to brief the media about the arrest of the burglar and the recovery of stolen valuables from him.
Incidentally, the burglar had been produced before mediapersons at the press conference.
Sources said many of the station's personnel were in close proximity to the burglar when he stayed in custody at the Camp police station before being taken to Hindalga prison on Monday.
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Santosh Kumar, circle police inspector, Camp police station said, he and at least 10 police and other personnel from the station have been placed under quarantine starting Friday. He said the station had been sealed soon after the burglar tested positive.
A senior official from Hindalga prison told The New Indian Express that the burglar who was a Covid-19 suspect when he was brought on Monday to the jail was placed in an isolated cell since then. "We have set up several separate cells to quarantine the accused and other criminals who are Covid-19 suspects. None of them are allowed to roam or mingle with other inmates in the jail," he said.
Currently, the prison has about 850 inmates including many facing capital punishment and life sentences.
Nurse tests positive in Covid ward
Meanwhile, a staff nurse working in the Covid Wards of Belagavi Institute of Medical Sciences (BIMS) has been tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday, creating panic among the healthcare staff.
The nurse, residing at a residential locality adjacent to the hospital, was regularly shuttling between her home and the hospital. The entire area surrounding her house has been sealed. Her husband and two children including a 10-month-old child were quarantined soon after she tested positive.
So far, 337 positive Covid-19 cases have been detected in Belagavi of whom 306 were discharged after total recovery. The district has 15 containment zones after 86 zones were denotified in the last few weeks.
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